End of All Hope
by Azaleatown
Summary: Sent into the future by the Hero of Time himself, Emery finds herself back in Hyrule where he thought she would be safe. But as the Twilight starts to expand, her life takes a turn for the worst as Link strives to save her from a long-forgotten evil.
1. Part 1

…

"HEY! Link! Look here! Look what I found!" A loud-mouthed child shouted at another boy, who was obviously older than him. The older boy had dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, looking over in the child's direction when he was called for. Quickly making his way over to the screaming child, he gasped at what he was pointing at. There was a girl with short dark brown hair that he had never seen before on the ground, unconscious. Link first noticed how small she was, but he would've guessed she was about his age. The boy who found her was already at her side, poking her hesitantly.

"Do you think she's alive?" he asked shamelessly. Link held back the urge to roll his eyes and took her by the wrist to check her pulse. Her heartbeat was faint, but it was there. Once he took his hand off her arm, his eyes widened and he gasped at what had run down her arm and onto his hand. It was blood.

"Look!" the younger boy pointed out with a gasp, lifting the girl's sleeves to expose the many scratch-like wounds across her arms, still bleeding. Turning paler by the minute, the girl's breathing became labored and Link quickly took her in his arms, standing up.

"Come on Talo, let's take her back to Ordon," He said in a rush, already on his way back to the village. The boy named Talo nodded quickly, running ahead with boundless energy. On the way back, Link took a good look at the girl. She had almost black hair, only slightly longer than his own, her ends being a reasonably lighter brown. She had a few wounds similar to the ones on her arms on her face going across her temple and forehead, a few on her cheeks and two that made an X over one of her eyes. Link grit his teeth as he ran back to the village, for some reason angry at what happened to her. It looked as if she had gotten violently whipped, and it made him even more uneasy when he could feel more on her back as he carried her.

"Link! Bring her over here!" Talo shouted once he had entered the village. Link ran over to him quickly when he saw that he had gotten help from Sera, and her daughter Beth. Talo was rapidly explaining the situation to them, and the young girl Beth was looking at him in disbelief. Her expression quickly turned to shock when Link came up to them and she saw he was telling the truth. Sera gasped at the sight and pushed Link in the direction of her house in a panic. Quickly but gently laying her down, Sera then came in and looked at her wounds. Link's eyes widened in alarm when he saw the rest of her. The girl had the same scratch-like wounds on her stomach and her chest, her back, her legs, and a few on her neck. Link had never seen anything like it before. Sera bandaged her up as much as she could, which took a while since they were practically everywhere.

"Do you know this girl?" Sera asked with concern in her voice. She had shed a few tears cleaning her up, obviously having as much trouble as he was looking at such a disconcerting sight. The girl couldn't have been any older than him was what hurt her the most. Link shook his head and looked to the floor.

"I've never seen her before in my life." He replied honestly. Sera stood up and put her hands on his shoulders.

"You're a saint, boy, you truly are. Did you see how pale she was? You saved her life." She praised whole-heartedly. Link blushed and scratched the back of his head modestly.

"Will she be okay?" he asked. Sera turned to look back at the now somewhat-contently sleeping girl.

"I think she'll be fine. I hope she wakes up soon." Link nodded in agreement. He was insanely curious as to who she was, and what could have possibly happened to her.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want to." Sera added as she left the room, winking at him. Link smiled catching the hint, and stayed. When she left, Link was faced with a distraught Beth hiding from behind the door, unsure whether to come inside or not. Link looked at her sympathetically, knowing it was probably hard for her to see something like that when she was still young. He got on one knee so he was at her level and put a hand on her head.

"She'll be okay, Beth. Don't worry." He consoled. Beth said nothing, but put her arms around his neck as a tear ran down her cheeks.

"W-why would someone do that to her," she choked out. Link frowned.

"I don't know." was all he could say.

…

'_I will consume…consume…consume everything'_

The girl's eyes shot open, as she woke up with a gasp. Her eyes were as red as crimson, as they held a particular panic at the brief but terrifying memory. She grit her teeth and kept her eyes on the ceiling unblinkingly, as if frozen in her spot. After getting over her panic, she turned her head to look at her surroundings. Ignoring the burning pain in her neck, she blinked in surprise when she saw not that she was in an unfamiliar room, but at the boy sitting in a chair across from her, asleep.

"…Hero?" she mumbled sadly, as if recognizing the boy. Then she attempted to sit up, but ended up hissing in pain as she slumped back into her previous position. There was a stinging pain throughout her entire body, in some places more than others. Lifting her arms hesitantly, she noticed she was bandaged up pretty tight. Her arms, her midsection, her legs…what the hell happened? She wondered, trying to remember. Apparently her moving around stirred the boy from his already restless sleep, as he slowly opened his eyes, soon catching the girl's narrow tired ones. She looked at him innocently, and he blinked in surprise at the strange color of her eyes. He had never seen anyone with eyes as red as hers.

"You're awake." He said, not knowing what else to say. He guessed she was confused enough as it is, he didn't want to get wrapped up in her eyes and freak her out more than she probably already was.

"Who are you?" she responded slowly, paying no mind to what he had said, although she already had a pretty good guess as to who he was.

"Link. I found you hurt and unconscious in Faron Woods a few days ago." He replied. She looked at him confused.

"Faron woods..? What? Where am I?" she questioned, not recognizing the name in the least. Link chuckled.

"You're in Ordon village now. You know…in the Ordona province. In Hyrule?" He kept going when she never showed signs of understanding.

"Hyrule?" she mused, "Oh, great…" she said stressfully with a sigh, turning her head back to its original position.

"I'm guessing you're not from here," Link observed, attempting to keep a conversation. The girl closed her eyes.

"Nah…not even close." She responded, looking a little upset finding out where she was. Link tilted his head slightly.

"What's your name?" he asked, remembering she had never told him. Her eyes closed and he was almost convinced she had fallen asleep, before she responded.

"Emery. I'm from...a place called Termina." She replied as her voice faded, and she fell asleep.

'_Termina?'_ Link pondered. He had never heard of such a place before, but it sounded so familiar. He couldn't help but smile at how innocent she looked as she fell asleep, as if she was completely unaware that she had practically been ripped to shreds. Link didn't notice how late he had stayed, and ended up falling asleep soon after her.

...


	2. Part 2

_…_

"Is she okay mom? What's wrong now?"

"It's fine, Beth. She's just…not doing too well right now. We need to get her to a real doctor, so Rusl is going to take her into town today." Sera replied trying to sound stronger than she felt. Beth gripped her hand tighter, fearing for the injured girl they had accepted into their home.

"But Link said she woke up a few nights ago and she was fine! He talked to her too!" she cried worriedly. Sera only rested her hand on her daughter's head sadly.

"Sometimes things don't always work out how they seem to, dear. She'll be alright once she sees a doctor, don't worry." Beth looked at the ground in front of her dejectedly. For the past few days, that girl Link and Talo found had become the talk of the village. About everyone had come to meet her, save for Colin and Malo, since she was still injured and their parents thought it was a little too morbid for them. The night Link had actually met her, she had slept rather peacefully, but the days after that she had become incredibly ill and had yet to wake up again. Link had told them all her name, but didn't mention where she was from. But he had convinced Rusl to let him tag along on the way to Hyrule Castle town, and if he could, he was planning on learning a little about the so called 'Termina'.

A few minutes later, a man wearing a headband and a sword on his back walked in. Sera nodded tearfully to him, and led him into the girl's room. Carrying her out into the carriage outside, Rusl flinched. She not only looked ill, but she looked as if she was in pain. Closing his eyes mournfully, he laid her down as gently as possible and led the horse to the north side of the village.

On the northern side of the village, Link sat on the porch of his house with his friend Ilia, looking out and easily spotting the horse and carriage coming their way. Ilia looked hesitant.

"How is she?" she asked, looking away. Ilia actually came to visit her rather often, feeling sympathy for the girl like she would a friend. But no one came to see her as much as Link.

"She's in a lot of pain…I can tell," he responded wearily, "We can only hope the doctor can help." Ilia nodded determinedly, but her spirit sunk again in a second.

"I really hope he can…" she said quietly. Link smiled at her reassuringly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it'll be fine. I'm sure it will." Ilia smiled back weakly, but nodded all the same. When Rusl's carriage came around, Link jumped down from his porch, Ilia taking the ladder behind him. They both cast a worried glance at the girl inside the carriage.

"I'll take good care of Epona for you while you're gone. Come home safe, okay?" Ilia asked. Link and Rusl both nodded, and they both proceeded to walk his horse out into Faron Woods. After crossing the bridge, Rusl spoke up.

"So you say she woke up a few days ago?" he inquired, knowing they both had the same thing on their minds. Link looked inside the carriage at the girl, whose breathing had become more and more uneven since the night they had spoken.

"Yeah. She told me her name, and that she's from really far away." He responded before looking away, "…speaking of that, could I ask you something?" he asked. Rusl nodded.

"Of course." He allowed sincerely. Link hesitated.

"Have you ever heard of a place called Termina?" he asked curiously. Rusl looked surprised at the question, and he paused before turning to look at the sky.

"I've heard the name before…somewhere. But I'm afraid I don't know many details of the land. There's a library in the Castle Town, maybe we can stop by if we have time." He convinced. Link smiled back at him and nodded. He liked how Rusl didn't prod him about why he asked. Ever since Emery told him she was from Termina, he got an oddly familiar and suspicious feeling at the name, and for now it was something he just wanted to keep to himself.

…at least, until she woke up.

Finally crossing into south Hyrule field, Rusl got in the cart and took his horse's reins. Link sat in the back with Emery. She was incredibly pale. During the few hours it took to get to the Castle town, Link found himself getting more and more frustrated as time went by. Something was obviously restraining her from breathing properly, but he couldn't figure out what. Why couldn't she breathe?

"Rusl," he started anxiously. Rusl turned his head slightly so he could hear, "She can't breathe." Rusl's face looked worried.

"We'll be there soon, lad." He replied. To Link, it sounded like he could care less. He did care, he truly did, but Link was starting to panic.

_She can't breathe...dammit Rusl._

"We need to hurry," he urged, trying his hardest to keep himself from pulling his own hair out. Rusl noticed his alarmed tone and pushed his horse to go faster. Now they could see the town's gates, and Link became more and more distressed the longer it took. Soon enough they entered the Castle town's massive west gate, causing Link to curse about the south gate being blocked off that could have saved them time. Moving as quickly as possible to the hospital on the east road, they met with the doctor named Borville. Link quickly became unsure about him, he looked a little loony.

"What? What do you want?" he interrogated as they entered. Yeah, he was nuts. Rusl quickly explained to him their situation and Link brought her in, laying her on the bed used for patients. As the doctor checked her over, Link suddenly felt incredibly possessive and wanted to push him away. _That_ was something he really didn't understand. He didn't even know the girl.

"Can you help her?" Link asked hastily, wanting to get her help and then get out. Rusl acknowledged him sadly. He also noticed something odd about Link when it came to that girl.

"Of course I can! Who do you think I am?" the doctor spat, "It seems as if she hasn't been breathing properly." He observed. Link wanted to slap the man at that comment.

"Yeah, um... that's kind of why we're here." He sassed. Rusl put a hand on his shoulder.

"Link, don't be rude…I'm sure she's in good hands." He tried convincing, but with little effect. The doctor raised a pointed object up in Link's face.

"He's right. Now I don't need your little attitude while I'm working, so stop worrying about her and come back later." The doctor argued. Link wanted nothing more than to assault the undersized man, but with Rusl's help he managed to leave the clinic without hurting anyone.

"Why are you so on edge, Link? You've only met the girl once." He asked worriedly. Link looked at the ground.

"I don't…I don't know. It feels like I've known her forever. She's only woken up once and I didn't even get to ask what happened to her…" he grumbled, kicking his toe into the ground.

"An encounter that left you with more questions afterwards than you had before?" Rusl mused. Link looked at him surprised. He was expecting to get scolded, not advice.

"Well…yeah." He agreed. Rusl smiled at him comfortingly.

"Well, to get your mind off of her for a while, how about we go to the library?" he suggested, reminding Link he had wanted to go there earlier.

"Oh yeah, right." He complied, following Rusl as he left for the library. He forgot, Emery wasn't the only thing he was curious about. There was Termina, too.

...


	3. Part 3

…

Emery stood on an empty plain. Her red eyes scanned the area around her, seeing nothing in every direction. Then she looked up, feeling something cold hit her face. She saw clouds slowly turning grey, as it began to rain. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped in surprise when she felt something tug on her pant leg. Putting a hand to her heart, she sighed in relief seeing it was only a kid.

"You scared me." She said, thankful she wasn't alone. The child didn't reply immediately, and it was then Emery noticed he was wearing a mask.

"Can I ask…a question?" he asked, "…what makes you happy?"

Emery looked sad. She then opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her eyes became wide with alarm, and then she noticed it was raining harder, but she couldn't hear it either. The next moment, she would have gasped if she had a voice. The clouds had briefly parted, but what she saw was anything but the sun. It was in the shape of a heart, with several spikes protruding from each side, with the most frightening eyes she had ever seen. After gaping at the sight she must have been hallucinating, she looked back at the child in front of her when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Wherever she was, everything became black and white; except for something she hadn't noticed before standing a reasonable distance behind the child. Her eyes locked on the figure as it slowly came closer. It was completely crimson red, except for two bright orange…eyes? As the creature stepped closer, Emery noticed its arms. Oh, its arms...she felt a petrifying fear the moment she saw them. They were two long, whip-like tendrils that dragged behind the creature as it walked. Emery gasped the next minute when she noticed the kid had disappeared. She jerked her head in every direction looking for the child, but found nothing. Then she finally turned her head ahead of her and to the creature in front of her, just standing there, hardly five feet away. Her eyes became as wide as humanely possible, and then she saw one of its tendrils wrapped around her arm she let out a blood-curdling scream. The creature seemed to laugh at her, and then it threw its other arm at her so it coiled itself tightly around her neck, its voice sounding oddly feminine. The rain made her tears simply look like water running down her face, and then the creature did something Emery wasn't expecting. Its arm that was wrapped around her arm let go, and the end of it flicked itself along her face, wiping her tears away. It was then Emery opened her eyes again, shocked. She looked at the creature still in fear, and confusion. Why had it done that? Was it not going to kill her? The creature's head was tilted to the side as it looked at her, and she looked it in the eyes. Its eyes were red, just like hers. And they didn't look angry, or crazy.

They looked lonely, and sad.

…


	4. Part 4

Sorry about the ending, I'm not really into writing awkward situations and this one seemed really bad to me so I just stopped. xD

* * *

><p>…<p>

"T…Termina clock." Rusl turned his head and raised an eyebrow.

"Clock?" he repeated.

"They don't have anything about Termina itself, but they have a book called the Termina clock." Link explained, opening the book. The book really wasn't very informative at all, except having a guide on how to read some strange type of clock Link had never seen before. It looked really complicated. After flipping through the pages for awhile, not really reading it, one thing near the last page caught Link's eye.

_-The most commonly known purpose for this clock being to count down the days before the Terminan Apocalypse._

"Rusl…look," Link said showing him the page. His eyes went wide.

"That's…strange. An apocalypse could be one explanation for her condition." He joked. Link scoffed, but smiled nonetheless.

"Could be, except this book was published 98 years ago. Something tells me that wouldn't really work out if she's here now." He retorted sarcastically. Rusl laughed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well we'll just have to wait and see then, won't we? We should head back and go check on her." He suggested. Link sighed and nodded, putting the book where he found it.

Unknown to them at the time, a man in the isle just in front of theirs watched them as they left. As he had been listening to their conversation, a frown had worked its way onto his normally joyful face. He came to the conclusion he'd have to keep an eye on them. More so the younger one, who had oddly reminded him of a boy he once knew. With a light chuckle, he went to the isle behind him and put back two books he had taken labeled '_Termina Mythology' _and _'The Terminan Apocalypse'_.

…

Link and Rusl opened the door to the treatment center, quickly being greeted by the doctor's shrill voice.

"What? Who is it? What do you want?" he screeched, only to turn around and see Link and Rusl once again.

"Oh, oh, yes. You two. The girl. She is just fine, now here's your bill." He said shoving a slip of paper at Rusl's nose. Rusl's jaw dropped at the ridiculous fine.

"300 Rupees?" he read off, stunned. He could hardly make that much money in the coming year!

"Yes? Is there a problem?" the doctor hissed impatiently, tapping his foot. Link was about to point a finger at the cynical man before him, until he heard a semi-familiar voice from behind them.

"Put it on my tab old man, I'll come back later." A woman's voice spoke. Link jerked his head up hearing the new voice, as did Rusl. Pushing past the doctor, he looked behind the curtain and saw Emery struggling to sit up, though she still looked to be in some pain as she clenched one eye shut. After successfully sitting up by herself she noticed Link and half-raised an eyebrow, with a small smile.

"You again?" she acknowledged, making him smile, happy she remembered him. One of her eyes she kept shut more than the other, mostly because the scar across it had not yet healed completely.

"Are we leaving? Help me out here will ya?" she asked normally, as if going to the hospital was an everyday thing. Link complied of course, and put his arms around her lifting her up as gently as possible. She stumbled once she was on two feet, but managed to stand up with Link's help. The wounds on her legs made it difficult to walk, but she managed. As they hurriedly left, Rusl snuck out two wooden makeshift crutches to much dislike of the doctor. Rushing outside into the cart and away from the crazy doctor yelling after them, they quickly escaped and were on their way back to Ordon within minutes.

"Glad to see you're finally awake," Rusl commented from in front of them, "I'm Rusl, nice to finally meet you." He said politely. Emery laid down on her back on the floor of the cart, tired from walking.

"Emery," she replied with a grin, "Ah, so thanks for, you know…saving my life and all. It's real nice of you." She said appreciatively, and Link couldn't help but notice her accent. Sure, he had never really been anywhere outside of Ordon so he didn't exactly know how unique it was, but something told him it came from far outside of Hyrule. He liked the sound of it.

"Oh don't thank me, Link's the one who saved you." He said modestly, making Link's face turn slightly red. Then it turned even redder when he saw Emery smiling at him gratefully.

"You're a real hero then, aren't you?" she said with a giggle, "I can't thank you enough." She ended more quietly. Link smiled back at her and looked at Rusl again.

"Talo was the one who saw her first. I think he's the real hero." He joked, and Rusl laughed. Emery smiled and closed her eyes contently.

"If you fall asleep again can you at least wake up this time?" Link asked her lightheartedly. Emery opened her eyes and looked at him again with a laugh.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked.

"Three or four days. You got pretty sick, and it looked like you couldn't breathe." He responded, and she snapped her eyes open.

_That's because I couldn't. It was suffocating me._

That's what she wanted to say…but she didn't. He would've thought she was crazy, and for a moment she was convinced that she was. Of course nothing was really _choking_ her. It was only a nightmare, it obviously wasn't the real cause of her breathing problems. But what was?

"You okay?" Link asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah. Fine," she replied. Link wasn't convinced.

"So how'd you end up in Faron woods in such bad condition?" Rusl asked from the front of the cart. Emery's utterly blank expression made Link want to laugh.

"Um…" she paused, "where?" Link sighed, remembering he had already explained this to her before. But he didn't blame her for forgetting. After explaining it to her again, she furrowed her brow in distress at the information, much like she had the last time she heard it.

"Oh, yeah…Hyrule. Nice place, I guess." She said getting off track quickly. Link laughed at her unrelated statement. She looked at him again with a tiny glare.

"You don't remember how you got here then?" he asked again. She sighed, trying to remember.

"My memory's a little hazy…I've got a blurry picture in my head as to how I got here, but I don't know how to put it in words." that was a lie. Not completely a lie, but a lie. It was a picture she did know how to put in words, but it was also a picture that would convince them she was a complete wack-job. Thankfully it was pushed into the very back of her mind, and decided not to bother her for the time being. So she decided to fake amnesia, for now at least. And lucky her, they seemed to accept her response and let it go. That is, until Link asked about where she came from.

"You said before you were from a place called Termina." He stated. Emery nodded her head.

"Sure am." She responded.

"What's it like there?" he continued. Emery looked up thoughtfully, realizing how much she missed it there.

"It's not so bad. Depends where you live, though. Some places are more dangerous than others. As long as the moon's in the right spot, most people are pretty happy there too." She explained.

'_That's a little vague.' _Link thought, disappointed.

"The moon?" he inquired, her last statement catching his interest. She frowned.

"Mmm," she mumbled with a nod, "It's, ah…real long story. I don't remember much of it, really." She admitted, which was another huge lie. She doubted she would _ever_ forget about that story.

"You remind me of someone I used to know." She said afterwards. Link looked up at her again, pointing a finger to himself.

"I do?"

"Mhmm. He came from Hyrule too, you look just like him." She pondered, her expression soon becoming sad at the memory of her friend she'd most likely never see again.

"What was his name?" he asked.

Oh, um…

Uhh…

Emery's eye twitched.


	5. Part 5

…

_"Tell me…do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls? They say it's the only time our world intersects with theirs…the only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left our world. That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight…"_

Emery sat on the fence watching Link finish herding the goats. It had been a few months since she had come back to stay in Ordon, mentioning very little on going back home. In fact, she rarely ever mentioned anything about her home back in Termina. She honestly would have loved to tell them all about it, but she knew eventually they would ask where it really was in relation to Hyrule, and she wouldn't know how to answer. If she told them the truth she was afraid they would think she really was a wack-job. And overall, she was pretty happy since most of them liked her. Especially the children, Link saying it was because she was almost like a kid herself. Emery wasn't offended.

"Done for today?" she checked as Link rode up to her on Epona. Link nodded with a tired smile. It was nearing dusk, and she took one last look at the pink-orange clouds before hopping off the fence to walk alongside Epona. Something about this time of day made her incredibly uneasy, but at the same time she loved it because it was so beautiful. Link stopped and bid her goodbye for the day when they made it to Sera and Beth's house, where she was welcomed to stay as long as she liked. They were more than happy to have her there, too; she had become like the older sister Beth had always wanted. Even happier about her staying was Ilia, who was ecstatic at the idea of having another girl her age around.

Although Emery was easily able to slide by many questions asked by the other townspeople, Link, of course, couldn't be evaded so easily.

"Emery! Guess what! Guess what!" the young boy named Talo asked her enthusiastically the very next morning, running up to her side in a flash. She chuckled at his excitement and ruffled his hair; she had only just walked out of the house.

"What?" she asked, sounding as interested as she could manage as early as it was.

"Beth's mom's selling a slingshot at her shop! Wait, you probably already knew that didn't you?" he ended sounding a little disappointed. She looked surprised.

"Really? I didn't know that…what are you gonna do, Talo?" she asked curiously. He stood up incredibly straight and closed his eyes, putting a finger to his chin thoughtfully.

"I was thinking since we don't get a real good allowance, we could bother Link about it today to see if he could get it for us! He's got a job, he could afford it right?" he asked. Ever since Talo and Emery met, they've always made it their job to 'bother' Link. Emery mocked his thinking pose and thought for a moment, nodding a few times.

"Probably. You go get your brother, I'll get Beth and we can go wake him up." She replied patting him on the head. Talo agreed and ran off in a rush, like always. Emery sighed at the boy's boundless energy, and went back inside to get Beth.

…

Link woke up with a jolt that morning. Panting, he quickly sat up and put a hand on his forehead after an oddly disturbing nightmare. He flinched again in surprise when he heard something hit the window right next to him. Arms out to defend himself from whatever was being thrown at him, he lowered them slowly when he saw the children and Emery standing outside, Emery tossing a rock in the air with a cocky smile. He couldn't help but scoff and grin at her, forgetting his previous nightmare and getting up to greet them. As he opened the door, Talo immediately rushed right into him, way more excited than usual.

"Link! Have you heard yet? The store's selling a slingshot! You NEED to get it for us!" he shouted. Malo, Talo's little brother could be heard mumbling from behind them.

"It must be powerful…I must have it…" he murmured suspiciously. And then once Beth put in her two cents, the three started bickering about it, causing Link to sigh and turn to Emery. She had crossed her arms and stared at the children faking disappointment.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" she apologized sarcastically. Link laughed.

"Not this time, sorry." He replied, "I had a really weird nightmare. And I'm gonna tell you about it once we're done with our chores for today okay?" he prodded, making Emery whine.

"But I was planning on saving them for later…how 'bout you tell me now while I watch you do yours and I can do mine some other time?" Link whined in return to her laziness.

"Fine, fine. So in this dream, I don't even know where I was…" he started, trailing off as he climbed the vines to a ledge to call a hawk that proceeded to knock down the beehive above Hanch's house.

"And I was on top of this really high tower, looking over this really nice town, but all the people were gone like it was abandoned." He continued after jumping off the ledge. Emery nodded every now and then to make it look like she was listening. And she was, but she was also staring off into the clouds.

"And then I hear this kid laughing so I look up and see this giant moon, _way_ closer to the ground than what it's supposed to be. It even had a face, a nose, everything!" Emery froze.

"Then the kid starts screaming and randomly falls to the ground, and then the moon crashes right on top of me…and then I died. Which was when I woke up, like a minute before you threw the rock at my window." He explained, shaking his head. Emery sighed and looked at the ground suspiciously. What if that means…?

"That's funny…I've heard a story just like that before." She commented, looking away thoughtfully.

"Where?" Link asked, now curious.

"Back home. Something like that happened once before." She replied, giving half answers so she wouldn't have to tell him the whole story. More so she didn't want to tell him the whole story…he wouldn't believe her.

"So the town in my dream is actually real?" he asked. Emery shrugged her shoulders.

"It was probably Clock town. It's the only place that's really…inhabited, by humans. Other than Romani ranch, anyway." She explained. Link sighed and crossed his arms.

"Wasn't very inhabited at the time…couldn't have happened." He concluded, though he was obviously still confused.

'_He takes his dreams too seriously.'_ Emery decided with a nod. A moment later, her eyes widened and she blinked.

Was that her own voice in her head?

"You're right. The town might be real, but the moon has never been _that_ close to falling…" she lied.

'_Why did I lie?' _she thought, frustrated as she grit her teeth.

'_Because he'll never believe you.' _Emery gasped, hearing it again.

Link believed her lie, but then started questioning himself when he noticed how distracted she looked.

"Do you miss it?" he asked sympathetically. Emery bit her lip, suddenly remembering how much she really did.

"Yeah. I do." She answered quietly.

'_But you know what I miss more? An old friend of mine I left behind back home, who just so happens to look __**exactly**__ like you, and have the __**exact**__ same name as you. How are you __**not**__ the same person?' _Emery thought, frustrated. That's what she really wanted to say. But of course, who would believe that?

Emery hadn't noticed that while she and Link were talking that they had drifted over to Sera's shop, and Link had already bought the slingshot. Luckily for her, he was easily distracted, and was really into his slingshot.

"Would you get mad if I hit you with this?" he asked, pulling it back to fling a seed at her. Emery recoiled overdramatically when he pointed it at her.

"Link! Yes I would, knock it off!" she scolded and he laughed. She couldn't help but smile, her face turning a little red.

Yeah, they had to be the same person.

Emery sighed as they started walking back to his little tree house, where the children were still bickering. Rusl was apparently there as well, as was walking the opposite direction as if he was leaving.

"Link, Emery," he greeted before turning to Link, "You're just in time, I just dropped something off at your house. Be careful with it, son," he said before leaving. Emery looked at Link confused as he grinned.

"Dropped what off?" she asked. Link looked like a little kid after giving them candy, he looked so excited.

"My sword! Be right back," he said before running off into his house, coming back out less than a minute later with a wooden sword on his back.

"Oh, duh." Emery remembered he had given it to Rusl only a few days ago. The next thing she knew, Talo was shouting his lungs out again.

"Link has a slingshot! Woah!" he marveled, making all the children look at him.

"You had enough money to buy it?" Beth noticed, looking impressed herself. Emery caught Talo's eye and winked at him, meaning their plan had succeeded.

After the children set up targets in the blink of an eye, they had gotten Link to show them how to use the slingshot, and after that, they had even convinced him to show them how to use a sword. This had taken up a good half of the day, and Emery ended up sitting it the grass with Colin and Epona for most of it. Emery never really had much of a relationship with Colin, so she decided to give him some company.

"How come you don't play with the other kids, Colin?" she asked casually. He looked surprised she had spoken to him, and looked away shyly before answering.

"They don't really like me, I guess…all they do is make fun of me." He admitted sadly. Emery looked surprised at his answer. She was never really good at comforting people, since she wasn't the most openly-emotional person out there, so she wasn't exactly sure what to say. After a moment of thought, she sat up and rested a hand on his head.

"You just gotta stand up for yourself Colin. If they say something mean, just laugh. Don't be bothered by anything they say, then they'll stop 'cause it's not fun anymore." She explained, attempting to sound encouraging. Colin looked back up at her and smiled.

"I could try…" he said quietly, and then his smile faded, "My dad always tells me to be strong…but I don't really know how." He explained, looking at the ground. Emery smiled at him.

"He doesn't mean you need to be strong, like in lifting things. He means you need to be brave, and take every challenge that comes your way head on." She encouraged, "Hold your head up high more often, 'cause wherever you're looking is where you'll end up. If you're always looking down, you'll end up on the ground exactly where you don't wanna be. And if you keep falling, you can't make any progress unless you get back up. See?" she enlightened, making Colin smile. He nodded, looking more confident.

"C'MERE, YOU!" Emery looked up and Colin turned around quickly hearing Talo shout, just in time to see him run off into Faron Woods after a monkey.

"Talo wait!" Link yelled after him, but he was too late. Beth and Malo had followed after him and Link grabbed his head in light frustration. Emery stood up immediately.

"Uh Link…we should probably go after them." She suggested urgently.

"Way ahead of you," he replied, taking Epona. "Wanna come?" he asked holding his hand out from atop Epona. She looked at Colin before replying.

"I'll be back soon okay?" she told him, and he nodded before she took Link's hand and he lifted her onto his horse. Taking off into Faron Woods, it wasn't too long before they passed Beth and Malo, looking around like they weren't sure what to do.

"Beth!" Emery called out, getting off of Epona. Beth hugged her instinctively, looking upset.

"They went past the bridge…I would've gone too, but…" Malo admitted, looking away. Emery looked at Link.

"I'll take them back home. You'll find Talo won't you?" she asked worriedly. Link gave her a determined look and nodded.

"I will, I promise." He assured her. She smiled in relief, and nodded back, picking up Malo. Even though he never acted like it, Emery could tell he was worried. He clung to her almost like he was scared. Link kicked Epona and took off deeper into the woods, Emery, Malo, and Beth leaving back for Ordon.

...


	6. Part 6

…

Talo and Link walked out of Faron Woods, finally, Talo looking guilty.

"Um, Link…you're not gonna mention this to my dad are you?" he asked worriedly, "He always tells me to never ever go into the forest, 'cause it's dangerous…"

"Because it is dangerous. And you're not going to do it again, are you?" he reprimanded. Talo shook his head no, and ran off back to Ordon. As soon as he went to follow him, he saw Rusl.

"Ah, Link!" he greeted, "My son told me that Talo had disappeared into the woods…I came as soon as I heard. But it looks like you have brought him home already. I should've expected, such a task should not fall to you." He observed, crossing his arms approvingly. Link smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders modestly.

"It was no big deal." He replied. Rusl nodded.

"Tell me Link…have you noticed how strange this wood seems lately? I feel uneasy about what may lie in wait…anyway, tomorrow is the day you leave for Hyrule. If you're lucky, you may even meet Princess Zelda!" he ended with a laugh, almost as if he was assuring Link that was impossible. Link laughed with him, but then he paused.

'_Wait. I'm leaving for Hyrule tomorrow…'_ he remembered. He hasn't even told Emery about it. Freaking out slightly, he rushed back to Ordon as the sun began to set; an ominous feeling coming over him as he watched the clouds turn orange.

"I hope she's not mad I forgot to tell her…" he wished.

…

The next morning, Link finished herding the goats before Emery had even woken up. He had told her he was leaving last night, and fortunately for him, she wasn't as upset as he thought she would be. He found her that morning walking with Ilia and Mayor Bo, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Ilia had obviously woken her up, as he noticed Emery kept shooting her a look every now and then at how active she was.

"Done herdin' for the day, Link?" the mayor asked him as he hopped off his horse, Link nodding.

"Well, good work. The royal gift Rusl told you about it ready, so you should get ready for your trip to Hyrule Castle." He suggested. Ilia had turned her attention completely to Epona at that time, Emery standing with Bo and Link, her eyes half open. Despite being incredibly inattentive at the time, she was the first to react when Ilia gasped.

"What?" she asked groggily.

"Epona…she's hurt. Link, what did you do?" she accused, raising her voice. Link flinched and looked to the ground, ashamed.

"How could you! You were pushing Epona too hard again weren't you?" she shouted, Link recoiling as she made herself angrier. Bo attempted to calm her down, stepping in between them.

"Now, now Ilia, there's no reason to get so angry with him…" he consoled, but his efforts were wasted as it only made it worse.

"Father!" she scolded, now turning to him, "How could you be so easy on him? You're the mayor, you should start acting like one!" she reprimanded, taking Epona away and saying something about going back to the spring. Link and Mayor Bo both looked down in shame, making Emery chuckle.

"You guys are in trouble..." She teased. Link glared at her and Mayor Bo tried calling out to Ilia.

"Wait! Without Epona, the gift won't get delivered in time! Oh, this won't do…" he ended with a sigh. Emery sighed and stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"I'll go get her, I guess…you should too, Link. She doesn't know what happened yesterday." She suggested.

"Oh, right." He remembered and nodded, him and Emery taking off for Ordon spring. Once they got to Link's house, Colin walked up to them.

"Link, Emery…are you going to see Ilia?"

"Mhmm." Emery responded sleepily. Colin glanced over at Talo and Malo, who were blocking the path to Ordon spring.

"Maybe it's just me, but…those guys don't normally let anyone through. Do you think we could go see Ilia together?" he asked. They agreed, and walked up to the two boys.

"Hey Colin, way to spoil everything by telling your dad. Nice job." Talo remarked, glaring at the poor boy before him. Colin didn't say anything as they continued demeaning him, then Emery took his hand. Talo noticed and look surprised, but then turned to Link.

"Hey, Link! Lemme borrow your wooden sword! If I had that yesterday, I could've handled it myself, definitely! C'mon, lemme borrow it!" he pestered. Before Link could say no, Emery had taken it right off his back, handing it to Talo.

"Knock yourself out, kid." She said handing it over. Talo cheered and ran over to the training dummy, allowing her and Link to pass. Link looked at her in disbelief.

"He could hurt himself with that you know," he stated. Emery put her hands on her hips defiantly.

"If he gets hurt, he had it coming to him." She replied, Talo's screaming in her ear and bullying Colin had obviously not put her in the best mood. Link noticed and took a step back, not realizing she could have such an attitude.

"I don't understand what's so awesome about swinging a sword around…" Colin commented, looking in Talo's direction before looking back up to Link and Emery.

"But when I grow up, I want to be just like you guys!" he said hopefully before running off to the spring. Emery smiled at him as he left.

"He's such a sweetheart," she said, Link smiling back at her. Once they both made it to the spring, they were only disappointed seeing Ilia had closed the gate.

"Oh, Emery. You can come in if you want." Ilia offered, opening the gate for only a split moment before slamming it in Link's face. Link looked at both of them with disbelieving eyes. Emery chuckled nervously, and then put a hand to the side of her face to whisper something to him.

"Hey, I'll tell her about what happened yesterday. You sneak in through the hole over there." She suggested, pointing to the spot to the left of the gate. Link nodded and left.

"I can't believe him…I always tell him to be gentle with Epona, and then this happens!" Ilia fumed.

"Epona had a big day yesterday…it could've been worse." Emery replied casually. Ilia looked at her oddly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I guess I forgot to tell you about it. Talo ran off into the woods yesterday, Link had to ride her pretty far out to find him." She explained, making Ilia gasp.

"Oh my…I didn't even know." She looked to the ground in shame, "Now I feel bad for yelling at him…"

'_And being a total drama queen,'_ Emery thought. Or was it someone else?

"I'm sure he'll forgive you." Emery replied, her face scrunched up in confusion for a moment, wondering why she had thought what she did.

"He will." Colin agreed. It was then Link emerged from their left, Ilia turning to him guiltily.

"I'm sorry, Link…don't worry about your horse. It doesn't look too serious…but can you at least promise me you'll come back home safely?" she asked.

"Of course I will." He replied. She smiled.

"Good." Link turned his attention to Emery, who had a faraway look in her eyes. He started to worry when he thought it looked almost…menacing. Her eyes were half-closed, and not because she looked tired. Emery felt something they couldn't, and the voice in her head was getting to her.

"Emery…" he called, approaching her stock-still form slowly. He then put a hand on her shoulder, and pulled it away quickly once she gasped.

'_Something's coming.' _Emery got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

'_What? What's coming?'_

'_Run. Hide.' _She jerked her head towards the gate and stepped back, grabbing Link by the arm.

"Emery? What's wrong?" he asked almost in a panic as she started shaking.

"Run. Hide," she repeated, and the very next moment they all gasped as the gate got broken down. Three giant boars had charged into the spring, one of them hitting Ilia with an arrow and the other hitting Link over the head with a club. They were about to attack Colin as well, but then Emery jerked him away by his arm and he recoiled into her stomach in fear. She held him close, and the King Bulblin rode up to them with a glare. He growled at her, and she glared back before she noticed one of the other bulblins readying an arrow at her and Colin. Her eyes widened and she reeled around to keep Colin out of harm's way, only to get an arrow in the shoulder. Colin screamed at the sound and Emery hissed in pain before taking it out.

"_What?"_ Emery asked no one in particular when she noticed the arrow hardly pierced her skin.

"Stubborn woman," the King Bulblin spoke before beating her over the head from behind, her and Colin both fainting from the impact. Not so fond of her apparently, the King Bulblin left her in the spring along with Link, taking only Colin and Ilia. Link awoke a moment later, sitting up in a panic remembering what happened. He looked around him and only saw Emery.

'_Colin, Ilia…' _he thought, driving himself crazy in panic. He ran over to her quickly, slapping her in the face a few times trying to wake her.

"Emery wake up, please, wake up…" he pleaded, sounding to be on the verge of tears.

"Please. Please." He prayed, his hands on her face in fear. Then she opened her eyes.

"Why didn't you run," she asked, sounding more like a statement than a question. But what frightened Link wasn't what she said, but how she said it. Why did she sound so angry? So disappointed?

"They took Colin and Ilia." He said back, being the only thing on his mind. Emery's eyes grew wide and she stood up in the blink of an eye, her and Link running out the broken gates and across the bridge into Faron Woods. Emery couldn't help but look to the sky as they ran, noticing it get darker and darker. The feeling she got before got even worse.

"Link…" she said in fear, moving closer to him. She grabbed his hand and he squeezed it tight, and the next thing they knew, they were in front of a towering black wall. They both looked up at it in awe, before a black hand shot out from the wall, dragging them both inside. The next thing Emery saw was nothing.

...

'_You truly have met with a terrible fate, haven't you?'_

_..._


	7. Part 7

…

"You didn't listen to me…" a voice said sadly. Emery was suspended off the ground by some unknown force, her eyes and her teeth clenched shut in agony as she felt a burning sensation throughout her entire body.

"Why?" it asked. Emery felt something slowly wrap itself around her neck. It felt so familiar…

As it coiled around her hesitantly, she felt an odd sense of comfort, like the pain going away. She calmed down quickly and the voice chuckled.

"Open your eyes." They demanded. Emery complied cautiously, opening them once before snapping them shut again, not expecting the harsh light that greeted her. She blinked a few times when she opened them again, her red eyes narrowing at the sight before her. There was nothing in every direction, except for a single tree directly ahead of her. Hadn't she been here before?

"You have." The voice spoke, reading her thoughts. Emery thought she recognized the voice…but she couldn't remember where.

"Here." It spoke again.

"…Where am I?" Emery asked, finally opening her mouth to speak.

"Oh…you don't remember?" it responded, almost sounding disappointed.

"No…where are you?" she asked next, realizing she couldn't see who she was talking to.

"Right in front of you. What do you think is keeping you in the air? Hahaha!" it taunted. Emery didn't know how to respond, she was convinced she was out of her mind she was so confused.

"Am I dead or what?" she finally asked after a moment, not fond of her company's sarcasm. Unfortunately her question only made them laugh harder.

"In a sense." It responded after its laughing fit. "You're on the moon. You've been here before, remember?"

"…Oh." She muttered. The time she had spent here before wasn't exactly the kind she wanted to remember; in all honesty, she would've given anything to forget it. And unfortunately, Emery had yet to realize this creature could read her thoughts.

"But you can't forget it, can you? You have the evidence of this place and our first meetingpractically written _all over_ your body! Don't you?" it tormented, before letting out a shriek and throwing her body into the ground. The pain started flooding back to her all at once the moment the creature let go of her. It felt like every past wound she had re-opened, leaving her on the ground writhing in pain. Opening her eyes briefly, Emery gasped when she saw a tall red and purple figure before her that was _definitely_ not there before. Of course, she recognized the creature immediately; it _did_ after all put her in what was practically the worst pain of her life…She trembled at the memory, and then stopped when she looked at it again. She noticed she could see right through the creature, like it wasn't really even there. Sitting up slowly attempting to fight through the pain, Emery gazed up at the being in front of her.

"I forgot…you're dead, aren't you?" she spoke, her voice strained. Her eyes moved to the monster's arm that had started to gather around her once again. It didn't reply. Not knowing whether to welcome its embrace or not, Emery didn't stop the creature as it rid her of the searing pain in her body.

"You can't go back without me." It spoke after a moment.

"What…what do you mean?" Emery replied weakly. The creature was now hunched over, and she could see it slowly disappearing.

"I told you to run away…but you didn't. That realm you got pulled into. You can't survive in it without me." It explained. Emery gasped and suddenly became more alert.

"Link. He's there, I need to go…" she said worried for her friend. The creature cut her off.

"But when you go back…you won't be the same. He won't either. You'll be one of them," it growled the last part. Emery blinked, confused.

"…them?" she asked.

"Shadow_ beast…_such ugly creatures. You won't be ugly, with me…" it coaxed, like it wanted her to go back. Emery blinked and looked the creature in the eye. No, not the one green eye atop its forehead; the two red eyes that made it look human, that reminded Emery so much of her own. They were only there for a moment more before the creature's presence faded away completely, along with Emery back to the world below.

…

The first thing Link saw once he was pulled into the black wall wasn't much more appealing than what Emery did. He struggled in the grip of the terrifyingly ugly beast that had pulled him in, attempting to free both him and Emery, who had fainted upon entering. The next thing he knew, a light came from the triangle on his hand and the beast flinched, flinging him and Emery a few meters away.

As Link tried to stand up, he felt something push him down onto his knees. The entire air around him distorted, and he felt a splitting pain in his head before it rippled throughout the rest of his body. With one last cry of pain, his body reformed into something he didn't get to experience long before he fainted along with his friend.

The shadow beast approached them cautiously, still afraid of the light that had come off him earlier. Never experiencing such an odd transformation from a human, the beast took Link by his leg, dragging him off. Then it stopped half-way, looking back remembering the other human. Still unconscious, but seemingly unharmed by the Twilight, the beast also thought this strange. They both came from the world of light, weren't they supposed to become spirits? Or beasts, like them? Well, Link had obviously become a beast…but she remained human. Why?

The beast went back and grabbed her as well, dragging them both off into Hyrule field.

…

Emery ended up becoming more of a beast than what was promised. In the cell she had been given, she lay half-awake, unaware of the effects the Twilight had on her. In Link's cell, he had woken up quickly and noticed the changes immediately. He had fur…which was enough for him to conclude that he had turned into a dog. Or a wolf, which was more likely…he looked around in astonishment and tried to move, only to learn that his arm was chained to the floor. Deciding to bite at the chain until it comes loose, Link started to lose hope until he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Looking up, he saw an odd-looking blue skinned imp standing before him. She stared at him with one narrow eye for one incredibly tense moment, before grinning and floating into his cell.

"I found you!" she cheered. Catching Link off guard, he stepped back and bared his teeth with a sharp growl. The imp giggled, much to his annoyance.

'_Not Emery.'_ Link concluded_._

"Oooh, aren't you scary." She taunted, "Are you sure you should be doing that? Snarling and glaring at me? That's too bad, I was planning on helping you…if you were nice." She admitted, turning her back to him. Link stopped. Whether she was making fun of him or not, he needed to get out of here. He had to find Emery…and Colin, and Ilia.

"That's more like it. You humans are obedient to a fault, aren't you?" she teased, hitting him under the chin a few times, then jumping back to avoid Link biting her arm off.

'_If you're going to help, then help me out already for Din's sake.'_ He thought impatiently.

"No need to bite!" the imp replied with a giggle, before creating some odd energy in her hands that proceeded to break the chain holding Link. He was surprised, to say the least.

"You look kind of surprised!" she observed with another giggle, before she hopped back and floated through the bars in his cell.

"So I bet you're wondering…where exactly are we? I'll even make a deal with you. If you can get over here, _maybe_ I'll tell you." She teased with a yawn.

"And you might wanna hurry, just telling you now…I came across another human down here while I was looking for you. A friend, maybe?" she added, giggling _again. _Link jerked his head up with a wolf-gasp.

'_Emery!'_ he thought and began looking frantically for an exit from his cell, eventually finding a small hole in the ground after destroying a box in the way. Once out, Link growled feeling weight on his back. Turning his head around he saw the imp whose name he still didn't know riding him like a horse.

"I guess you're not completely stupid after all," she commented, "And since I like you, I think I'll help you out of here. I _could_ take you to that girl I saw earlier…but then again, maybe I shouldn't." she contradicted, putting a questionable hand to her chin. Link barked at her in response, growling in the frustration of it all.

"Woah, calm down boy. I only said that because, well…she didn't look too good when I saw her. Humans normally become spirits or shadow beasts when they enter the Twilight…she doesn't look like either, to be honest. But If you really wanna see her, then let's go already." She urged, kicking him in the side slightly telling him to go. Link tried his hardest to suppress another growl, he was already not too fond of his new _friend._

After getting out of his general area from a hole in the cell next to him, he looked at Midna for directions. She looked around a few times before hitting the top of his head to urge him on.

"Over there," she said pointing in the direction to their left. After biting a chain above him to open the door, he ran inside the small cell, finding a crawlspace like the one he had exited before. After crawling through it, he was in a room almost identical to the one he woke up in, although much smaller with only one cell in the back. Link lifted his head quickly when he heard breathing. Running to the cell, he gasped and backed up at the sight before him.

It _was_ Emery…but, what happened to her?

She was lying on her side still unconscious, her arm chained to the floor like his had been. But Link noticed in an instant how she changed.

Normally she wore long-sleeves, so the many scars that she had weren't visible. But the day she accidentally entered the Twilight she had one short sleeve and one long, and each scar she had stood out as they were now completely black. It hurt Link to look at the ones on her face, the ones he had so easily been able to look past before. Even Midna looked like she felt sorry for her. After averting her gaze, she finally spoke up.

"So…wanna get her out? No offense or anything but, she doesn't look like she'd be able to make it too far. She looks like she got hurt pretty bad." She observed, dropping her attitude out of sympathy. She didn't know it but Link did, that those cuts were actually just old scars.

'_They're just old scars. They can't be hurting her or anything, so she should be fine…' _he attempted to console himself as Midna moved right through the bars and into Emery's cell. Gingerly trying to wake her, Midna still kept a safe distance. She didn't know why, but something about this girl made her incredibly uneasy. Her transformation was just _not normal,_ and she didn't understand why. Midna felt something else about her that almost made her want to dislike the girl, like something about her was threatening.

'_This isn't Twili magic…'_

Eventually giving up on waking her, Midna moved back through the bars where Link was waiting. He had his head down like he was mourning for her. He didn't know it, but Midna wanted to give up because her gut feeling kept telling her the girl was dangerous.

"I think we're wasting time here. Even if she wakes up, there's no way to get her out like you got out. We'd need a key." Midna rejected, causing Link to jerk his head up at her in shock. Leave her? Out of the question. He had no idea when he would be able to come back…

"Well?" Midna prodded, her arms crossed. What was her problem? She was all giggles and sarcasm a minute ago, and now she ran away from Emery like she was some kind of demon. Link gestured to her cell again and Midna sighed, rolling her eyes.

"I told you, we can't get her out without a key. If you're so stubborn on getting her out, we can come back some other time." She argued.

'_I'll hold you to that,'_ Link thought determinedly, walking away from her cell hesitantly. Finally realizing he was agreeing to leave, they crawled back where they came and found their way out of the cellar.

But just as they left her room, Emery woke up. Hearing them leave, her eyes were cracked open just barely, staring at the space in front of her sadly.

"Link…don't leave," she mumbled, her voice hardly above a whisper. A small piece of metal lay in front of her, casting part of her reflection in her direction. If she could feel, she would've been frozen in shock. Or maybe she already was? That could explain why she couldn't move…or maybe that was because she was sad. Emery's eyes weren't red anymore. They were bright green, and the white of her eyes were a sickly red-orange color.

"Don't leave…" she repeated. In the mirror's reflection, she could see the creature from the moon standing over her. Turning her head very slightly, she gazed at the monster, taking comfort in the eyes that used to be just like hers as she gave up on staying awake.

…

* * *

><p>Sorry for the huge gap in updating, I didn't really like how this chapter started out so it's been sitting in my computer half-finished for like a week. Don't get mad. :3<p> 


	8. Part 8

…

Link couldn't help but lay his head down in guilt at the sight before him. He was back in Ordon, but still a wolf. He could hear Sera sobbing from inside her shop, crying about her children. Apparently the beasts had also taken Talo, Malo, and Beth as well as Colin and Ilia. Sera's mourning made him feel ashamed to even come back without them. But with a pat on the head from his new partner Midna, he went back to looking for a sword and shield. The village was so sad without the children…

…

'_Why did he leave…?'_ Emery asked herself.

_He doesn't want you anymore. He won't come back._

Emery laid in her spot sadly with her eyes closed.

_Do you want to get out?_

Then she snapped her eyes open again. Getting out sounded nice.

"I want out," she responded quietly. Then almost against her will, she was slowly forced to her feet. Emery gasped when she felt her arm literally fall through the shackle holding her, and she looked to see her hand hadn't completely disappeared….but it had turned into a black arm that the creature from the moon had. Emery lifted it up with wide eyes, almost unable to grasp what exactly was going on.

"Am I…a beast? Like you said," she asked the creature who was now invisible to her.

_Shadow beast? Not quite. You would've been, if not for me. My power is greater than theirs…now you look just like me! Hahaha!_

Emery's dumbfounded expression did not change with the explanation, and she focused on her hand long enough for her arm to shrink back to normal. With a relieved sigh, she then walked towards the bars of her cell.

"…what now?" she asked, looking around for a way out. The voice groaned, as if it was tired of her questions.

_Break them in half._

Although confused, Emery placed her hands on the inside of two bars and found she could easily bend them apart.

'_Is this for real?' _Emery asked herself in a state of astonishment as she stared at her hands. She could hear the creature's voice giggling at her confusion. Feeling as if it was mocking her, she glared in front of her and stepped through her cell. Finding a door at the end of the room, she stepped through it cautiously, the doorway leading her to a hallway she assumed was in a cellar. Unsure as to where to go from there, Emery looked down each direction before deciding to go right. Seeing another cage at the end of the next hallway, she walked towards it and bended the bars again so she could get through. Once out, she was in a room with a spiraling staircase that was broken in several places that she doubted she could climb up.

_Look for something above you to grab on to._

Doing as she was told, Emery lifted her head up and saw multiple ropes strung above her.

'_Grab onto it with what?' _she asked herself before remembering, she was a half-beast now and she could do anything that moon-monster could. She lifted her arms up together in front of her before making tendrils of her own grow out in place of her hands, which was actually rather painful. The creature's voice giggled even more.

With a huff, Emery swung one of her arms at the end of a rope above her. She was surprised how well it stayed around it, it must be more connected to her nerves than she thought. Hauling herself to the stairs above her, she repeated this process until she made it to what she assumed was ground-level. With a gasp, she jumped back when she saw the place crawling with gross looking black rats.

"Ew…" she couldn't help but mumble as she swatted them away, suddenly thankful for her new arms. At that thought, Emery suddenly felt oddly happy. Her being grateful for something the creature from the moon gave her made it happier, making Emery feel the same. If it couldn't read her every thought she would've compared it to a child. One moment it's moody and psycho, the next it's giggling up a storm and getting happy over a compliment.

Once the rats were gone, Emery sighed and lifted herself up to the door above her. Pushing it open, she walked outside to see she was actually quite far above ground level. She immediately took notice of the towering castle next to her, and was awestruck at the humongous building.

'_I wonder if Ikana castle was ever this big,' _she pondered. Walking out, she looked over the side of the castle wondering how she could get down.

_Jump?_

'_I'm not suicidal,' _Emery argued, refusing the idea. The voice only laughed at her and did not reply. After looking around for a while, she eventually found scaffolding on the side of the castle that led to the ground, and so she ended up slowly lowering herself down. Once finally getting her feet to the ground, she made her arms become her hands again to at least look sort of normal, and she stretched her back out. She didn't know how long she had been imprisoned, but she was sore.

'_So…where to.' _She thought, realizing she had no idea where she was or where she could go. Getting no reply from her partner in her head, she wandered into the Castle town as casually as possible. After looking around she became confused, noticing there were no people around. The last time she was here this place was overflowing practically. She was able to notice the odd blue lights running around, though.

'_Are those people?' _she wondered.

_That could've been you if it weren't for me._

With a gasp of realization, Emery clapped her hands together, connecting the dots.

"Oh! I remember now…this is what happens to people if they don't turn into beasts?" she observed.

_Nice connection smart one, now…I wonder what caused this Twilight?_

"Twilight?" Emery repeated, the word sounding familiar.

_That's what this is. Perpetual Twilight, can't you tell? Do me a favor and find out where it came from._

"Okay…" Emery agreed slowly, wondering where to start. The voice in her head sighed in exasperation.

_Talk to the Shadow beasts! They know things._

Emery rolled her eyes as she walked out the east gate, leaving the Castle town.

"Wonder where I could find one. Aha!" she said, finding a shadow bulblin-like creature holding a club not so far away. It turned around with a jump when it noticed her, running towards her in a hostile manner with its club raised high. Emery quickly held her arms out as if to stop him and surprisingly, it actually stopped. It stared at her with its club raised with a now trembling hand, as Emery looked back at it with a kind smile.

"Wait. Don't attack me, we can be friends." She said, causing the shadow bulblin's shaking to escalate so much it dropped its weapon. She was absolutely baffled that it actually worked, but she tried not to let it show.

'_Can these things even talk?'_ Emery asked in her head, hoping her thoughts weren't the only ones her friend could hear. Unfortunately, even if it tried to reply, the voice's hysterical laughter in her head drowned it out. Putting her arms in front of her in a peacemaking gesture, Emery attempted to calm down the now panic-stricken beast in front of her. The voice's laughter soon died down, causing Emery to silently sigh in relief.

_It's afraid of me…afraid of you! Hahaha! Don't worry…it'll talk._

Emery was unsure, but decided to try anyway.

"Can you tell me who caused the Twilight over the castle?" she asked innocently, trying to sound nice to calm the beast. The beast replied hastily, making the creature's voice start laughing again.

_The King of Shadows? What a joke._

"Who's that?" Emery asked, half asking her friend and half the beast in front of her.

_He says he cannot tell. Take his club and beat him with it_

Emery scoffed at its suggestion. With large green eyes, she stepped closer to the beast.

"But why not?" she asked, determined to find out his name.

_Poor thing._

Emery's hands slowly formed into the creature's tendrils once again as she unintentionally flung one around the beast, her eyes narrowing into a more menacing glare.

'_What are you doing?' _Emery asked herself, alarmed.

_You borrow my power, I borrow your body. Isn't that fair?_

Emery gasped inwardly in fear. She didn't want to argue, so she gave in and stayed quiet as it made her force information out of the poor bulblin.

_Zant._

Emery's eyes widened as she dropped the bulblin, which fell now lifeless to the ground.

…


End file.
